VISIT OUR BLOG: 5 BILLION MINUTES

Archive for July, 2011



Max Fose

07/28/2011

Social Media: Congress Believes
10:41 am by Max Fose

I started IWS on email campaigns. That’s what we did, that’s what we were known for. That was 11 years ago, however, and times change. Our clients still want e-mail campaigns, but now we also get requests for social media campaigns.

So it came as no surprise to me then when I saw the latest study from the Congressional Management Foundation. CMF, which is totally nonpartisan, found that the majority of Congress embraces social media. According to the report, 64% of senior managers believe Facebook is an important tool for gauging the viewpoint of their constituents.

For politicians, social media isn’t just a place to be, it’s about conversations. It’s about sharing. This is what we tell our clients. Just having a presence in social media isn’t enough. You need a commitment to engagement. Social media is no different than anything else – you get out what you put into it.

If you get a chance, read #SocialCongress: Perceptions and Use of Social Media on Capitol Hill. If you’re in politics and you aren’t leveraging social media, it’s time to start.

One more thing. TweetCongress can help you keep track of Congress via social media. In addition to Twitter feeds, it has lists of members who use that social platform and their @names.

No Comments

Aaron

07/20/2011

Facebook Commerce
10:31 am by Aaron

E-commerce, as a term, dates back to the very beginning of the Internet. It was all the rage in the 1990s and has only grown since. Just ask Amazon.com, which only does business online, or Borders, which failed this week, largely because of online competition.

Recently e-commerce has a challenger, or maybe a little brother. It’s called F-commerce, which stands for Facebook Commerce

This info-graphic was the first time I had ever heard it used, but the term is catchy enough that we might start hearing it regularly.

The info-graphic itself tells us two things:

  • Not a lot of Facebook pages engage in F-commerce
  • The number of pages that do will probably rise quickly.

There are numerous pages right now that have integrated some sort of commerce application into their Facebook page. Music artists make use of Facebook to sell merchandise, Best Buy allows its fans to browse its store from their Facebook page, and Starbucks lets its fans buy, manage and send Starbucks gift cards.

If you sell product and have a Facebook presence, you should start looking into F-commerce – before your competition does.

1 Comment

Aaron

07/14/2011

The Smartphone as a Wallet
11:37 am by Aaron

Earlier this week I wrote about the Great Smartphone Adoption and how, according to a report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 35% of American adults now use smartphones. This growing level of smartphone adoption will have an effect on commerce, according to a new survey.

46% of 1,000 of business executive surveyed think making payments by mobile phone will be mainstream in 2013. The number jumped to 83% when forecasting four years down the road.

Starbucks has made headlines by introducing mobile applications that allow customers to use their smartphones as gift cards. Google also has made waves by creating Google Wallet, which allows users to store their credit cards within the application and make payments by “tapping the phone on any PayPass-enabled terminal at checkout.”

Is the future of smartphone payment the Starbucks way, where companies have their own apps that turn phones into mobile gift cards? Or is it the Google Wallet way, an application that turns a smartphone into a wallet?

With mainstream adoption imminent, it is probably best for businesses to start pondering the mobile payment issue now.

No Comments

Aaron

07/11/2011

The Great Smartphone Adoption
03:02 pm by Aaron

While watching television, one usually can’t get through even one commercial break without being inundated with advertising about phones. Sprint, Verizon, AT&T, iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Galaxy, Thunderbolt …

Let’s face the facts: it’s fast becoming a smartphone world. A report released by the Pew Internet & American Life Project is confirming what these countless commercials have already been telling us, smartphones are in wide circulation. 35% of American adults now use smartphones.

Cellphone use has been prominent for the past decade, but the smartphone is a whole new animal in itself. The smartphone is a mobile-information hub, serving as a communication device as well as a small-end tablet computer.

  • E-Mail is Texting: 87% of smartphones owners access their e-mail through their phone. This ease of access allows users to send and receive e-mails as casually as they can text messages.
  • Wherever, Whenever: In the days before smartphones, users would have to separate themselves from their computers and other media centers when they went to run errands, go to school, work or out for leisure. With the smartphone, the user is never disconnected from their computers and media centers. Smartphones have allowed for a truly connected society, wherever their users go they can be connected and communicate in a variety of ways.
  • At Our Fingertips: Mobile applications create an ease of access that has broad appeal. Want to connect with a certain Web site or brand? A simple tap of your finger can open an information-rich application. Information is literally at our fingertips now.

The demographics tell the story. Those with smartphones are more likely to be financially well off, well educated and part of an urban or suburban community.  These people are important because they are often the movers and shakers of information, spreading along a message not to assist in marketing efforts, but just because they are that connected.

Smartphones are creating these constant connections, and their influence is growing.

1 Comment

sjohnson

07/06/2011

New Site for an Important Organization
11:21 am by Sarah Johnson

Congratulations to the National Juvenile Justice Network on the launch of its new Web site.

We are proud of the work you do, and we enjoyed working with you.

Check out the new site at http://www.njjn.org

No Comments